Leave Your Weaknesses
by Tamabonotchi
Summary: Leave your weaknesses. Rukia could hear the voice in front of her, but she saw nothing. Her body was cold, but she did not shiver- she could not.
1. Leave Your Weaknesses

**Bleach by Kubo Tite-sensei, not me.  
Notes: **_Italics are thoughts _**Bold is Shirayuki talking.  
Enjoy!**

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It was darkness. Utter darkness.

_It's… cold._

_Very cold._

Rukia felt every place on her body cold like an ice berg, yet she couldn't shiver, her teeth did not chatter of being in the cold.

_Where… am I?_

Rukia finally opened her eyes. When they were closed, everything was black, dark. When she had looked in front of her, she could only see grey, and white. She shut her eyes; unable to keep them open a moment longer. She squinted, but still couldn't see anything except the grey.

_I can't see anything…_

Fog.

She moved her hands in front of her and saw her guess was correct. It was fog, all around her and what looked like even farther away. Rukia twisted her head to look all around her.

Fog.

She couldn't see anything; she could barely make out the outline of her bare arm if she reached into the cloud.

Her eyes flashed in surprise.

_My arm is bare… _

There was no sleeve cover her arm from her arm, her gi was gone. It wasn't until that moment did Rukia look down at her body. She was wearing nothing. Even though she couldn't see below her waist because of the fog, she could feel the absence of her gi, hakama, and obi, even her white kosode. Her eyes stared in shock. She remembered wearing her shinigami clothing before everything went dark, and then she was here. But now they were gone. She could feel her skin make contact with the coldness all around her- no wonder she was so cold.

She grabbed her arms and pulled them tight to her chest. She could feel it getting colder all around her. She clenched her jaw tightly as she tried to fight of the chill all over her body, but didn't realize she had gotten on one knee.

_Why… is it so cold?_

**"Because you are strong."**

Rukia opened her eyes, and noticed she was on both knees, her face hovering an inch above the ground. From what she could see, the ground was green, but white covered it. Her breath came out in shuttering pants, the cold air filling her lungs.

She had heard the voice… but where did it come from? The voice came from in front of her, she knew for certain. She slowly sat up a little and looked forward, but still saw nothing except fog.

_Who... was that?_

**"Come over. Or you'll freeze in that position. You'll look like you're bowing down- what a pathetic pose."**

Rukia's eyes focused straight on- the voice was over there no doubt, hearing its condescending tone in her ears. She felt like obeying the order, but she couldn't move. Her hands felt frozen the ground, her knees numbing.

**"Get up."**

_Why?_

**"Get up, Rukia." **

She arched her back as she let out an anguished cry, breaking her hands off the ground. They were frozen to the ground. Soon she was able to free her legs, as she stood up. She still couldn't breathe properly, as she lifted her head and looked forward.

**"Come over."**

_Who are you?_

**"Come over, Rukia." **

She looked down as she heard the echoes of her feet stepping over the ground. She let her feet carry her to where the voice was. She still couldn't see anything as she moved through the fog, as the cold bit into her already cold skin. She continued walking, waiting to see a faint silhouette of the source of voice, but what felt like walking for half an hour.

_Where are you?_

**"Closer, Rukia."**

She kept on, now dragging her tired feet. She could barely feel her arms anymore as they felt dead holding the other arm, but she kept moving forward.

_It's so… cold. I can't go on anymore. Where are you…?_

**"I'm right here. Don't you see me?"**

She snapped her head up and stared wide-eyed straight ahead. The voice sounded like they were in arm's reach… but she still could see nothing.

_No… I don't see you._

**"Why don't you try and touch me… Rukia." **

Rukia looked ahead, and stared at the fog. She remained staring, still as a sculpture. After a moment, her right hand released its grip from her left arm, as she lifted it up in front of her. She stretched her hand out, but felt nothing. She moved her hand all around, attempting to feel something. She continued flailing her hand around to feel something until she felt a hard surface graze the top of her middle finger.

She didn't realize until she felt ice all around her. She gasped, and gasped as no more air went inside her. She stared wide-eyed as she saw her vision become distorted.

_I'm in ice..!_

The ice touched her whole body, piercing her with the bitter cold in her already numb body. She wanted to scream, but couldn't.

_I can't breathe. _

Panic surged through her entire body, but she couldn't move a single limb.

**"Why don't you move, Rukia?"**

She could still hear the voice even through the thick ice. Rukia felt hopeless, immobile. The only thing she could was close her eyes, as the brilliant whiteness and blue of ice disappeared from her gaze.

**"Don't shut yourself out- don't give up. Why don't you fight, Rukia?"**

_I can't fight… There's no way out._

Rukia's eyes remained close as she felt the ice stick to her body, not able to feel her feet or hands anymore.

_**"Just because you feel weak you give up. Weak from guilt and regret."**_

_No… I'm not guilty anymore, I have no more regrets_.

All guilt that scarred her heart for so many years were now healed, after facing against Aaroniero Arleri- the espada that had Kaien's body. After defeating him, no regret lied in her heart of him.

But the feeling of weakness still was in her.

**"You think you're weak now… so you quit."**

The voice echoed in her head, making her snap her eyes open. As she opened them, she saw images of everyone- Inoue, Ishida, Chad, Renji, Byakuya, and Ichigo.

_Everyone… they wouldn't quit._

**"So why do you?"**

The question echoed all over inside of Rukia. Her eyes blinked slowly as she set them to a lazy gaze.

_I can't quit. I wouldn't quit._

**"Then move, Rukia." **

Rukia closed her eyes, and remained still, doing nothing. She regained feeling in her hands- they felt like they were being stabbed by sharp rocks. She gathered her strength as she scratched the ice away, making her able to clench her hands into fists.

_What could I do to get out? It's ice._

Rukia's eyes brightened a moment after, and began breaking the ice that was in front of her, separating her arms from one another. She crushed the eyes until she could touch her arm with her other hand. Her left hand clasped onto her other arm, and steadied it.

"Destructive Spell #31 shakkahō..!" She struggle to say with the little air. Her hand lit red as it sent the spell against the ice, creating an explosion. Rukia could hear ice breaking and shattering, and could feel the ice encasing her break. She landed on the ground with a thud as she gasped at for air. Soon after it became silent, Rukia lifted her head up to see anything. Her eyes widened when she saw an object in arm's reach in front of her, the fog clearing all around her.

She was able to see the fine blade that was connected to the hilt, and at the end, a ribbon laid on the ground with it.

"S-Sode no Shirayuki!" Rukia gasped, staring at her sword on the ground. Her hand stretched- she could get it from where she was, but her hand froze in air a few inches away.

**"Certainly you want to learn Ban Kai, right?"**

_Ban Kai…? _

Rukia's eyes widened as the voice called out, still in the same direction where her zanpakutou laid on the frozen ground. She knew how the captains had ban kai excluding Zaraki taicho, even Renji and Ichigo were able to achieve ban kai. But the process was difficult to obtain, and then to 

master ban kai… she knew how long and hard it was to even get your zanpakutou to materialize, ban kai was almost impossible… for her.

**"You'll never obtain ban kai if you don't become stronger- leaving your weaknesses."**

Rukia's eyes widened in realization as the voice spoke. She finally understood who the voice was as her hand remain hovering over the hilt of Sode no Shirayuki.

"It's… you." She whispered as she gazed at her zanpakutou in wonder.

**"Grasp me, Rukia. You'll never achieve ban kai if you never touch me." **

Rukia gave a small nod. She brought her hand back to her side, away from the white hilt. Rukia put her palms into the ice on the ground and pushed, trying to get up. Her arms were shaking as she was able to get on her knees. She looked up towards the sword, and her hand reached again. She strained her arm to touch it. The second her fingertips touched, she grasped the hilt and held tightly. Power and warmth surged into her cold body, as she moved to one knee, pushing to stand up.

_I don't care of achieving ban kai so quick… I just need to be strong now. No more of the weakness from long ago._

**"Open your eyes to reality, Rukia…" **

Rukia stood straight as she assumed the pose of a proud Kuchiki- a shinigami. She slowly opened her eyes as everything around her disappeared, replaced with something entirely different. Rukia stared for a moment at the ocean sky that was spread across above her, the light from the sun covering her. The ground felt warm- the air felt warm- she could feel her hakama and gi wrapped on her small body, and lastly, the weight of her sword in her open palm.

"Rukia, oi Rukia! Are you alright?!" The loud voice called out to her, as she heard the noise of quick footsteps coming towards her. It felt like she hadn't heard the voice for days.

"I-Ichigo..?" Rukia carefully sat up in her place on the dirt ground, and turning her head to see the shinigami representative running towards her, his eyes staring at her. Her face held surprise at seeing him all of the sudden, and she looked at where she was at again. The sky wasn't really- the sun wasn't real. It was Urahara's basement under the shop, the last place she remembered before the whole event.

"Rukia, are you okay?! You were acting really strange for a while, and you just dropped to the ground!" Ichigo arrived to Rukia's side as he crouched down in concern. Rukia gave him one more confused look before putting on her regular, Kuchiki face.

"I'm fine, Ichigo…" She muttered, slightly irritated. "It's not like I'm hurt, so why do you need to be concerned, when you shouldn't be concerned if I get injured anyway?" She asked him in a stern tone. His eyes drooped for a moment before giving a sigh of relief.

"It's time to go home now, isn't it? We should get going." Rukia began saying as she stood up. She sheathed her zanpakutou and looked up at Ichigo.

"Ah, let's get going." Ichigo said as he realized it was getting late. They both walked side by side as they walked to the ladder, and climbed up back into the shop itself. They gathered into their bodies and started making their way towards the entrance of the shop before passing Urahara.

"Good-bye then, Kuchiki-san, Kurosaki-san!" He waved to them with his smile, hat hiding his eyes. Ichigo raised his hand as a good bye as they left the shop, and continued walking back to Ichigo's home.

All the while Rukia's mind was filled of the memory of her encounter with her zanpakutou inside her mind, and what her sword had told her.

**"Become stronger, leave your weaknesses."**

_I will. _

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**Hope you enjoyed! Comments are loved. I'm thinking of making an extra chapter for this... Thanks!  
**


	2. Watching You Unmoving

**Extra chapters for you all! It's in Ichigo's point of view of the same day.  
Note: **_Italics are thoughts. _  
**Bleach is not mine, it's by Kubo Tite, who was at Comic Con on Wednesday and I wasn't able to go.**

* * *

Sunlight. Bright sunlight.

_It's warm. _

_Very warm._

Ichigo's body was covered, warmth everywhere. Ichigo's eyes snapped open and the light hit his eyes. Putting his arm up to shield them, he sat up straight in his bed as he sat in silence for a small moment.

_He'll barge right about…_

"ICHIGOOOOOOOOOOOO!" His father busted the door open and sailed into the room, his foot up at the same height of his head. Ichigo expected it, and moved his head to the left, dodging the foot. He clenched his hand into a fist and gave a hard punch into his stomach, stopping him in the air. He flew back into the wall near the door with a crash.

"Dammit, old man… Why don't you stop already?" Ichigo asked in an annoyed voice, his scowl on.

"Ah, but I need to keep my wonderful son sharp for any surprise attacks! So far you've been able to keep up, so good job Son!" Isshin gave him thumbs up as he stood up from the hole in the wall. Ichigo glared at him.

"Oh, and Yuzu told me to tell you breakfast is done so you better eat now or else your food will get cold! Rukia-chan has already woken up!" Isshin informed him as he walked out of his room. He said the last part in a matter-of-fact tone and he disappeared down the hall.

"Che… Whatever." Ichigo muttered as he scratched the back of his head. It wasn't that surprising he was the last one to wake up. He stepped out of his bed as he stretched.

"I want to see Nee-san!" Ichigo turned his head over to his closet as it opened and Kon jump out. "Let me see her!" He demanded, looking up at Ichigo.

"What, why are you ordering me? Go yourself- or are you afraid of getting caught by Yuzu again?" Ichigo said, looking down at the plush annoyingly.

"Shut up with your smart responses! All I want is nee-san and her amazing body hugging me so tightly I-" He didn't finish before Ichigo's foot connected with his soft face, and he flew into the open closet.

"Sorry, Kon; Rukia and I will be gone today." Ichigo informed as he began closed is bed room door and began undressing. Kon poked his head out of the closet in shock.

"What?! You and Nee-san?! Are you two going on a date?! No, it can't be true!" Kon cried.

"N-no! We're just going to Urahara's shop!" Ichigo exclaimed at Kon's assumption. Either way, he scowled even more as his face heated in embarrassment.

_A date- yeah right. _

Ichigo changed into new clothes as he walked out, and went downstairs. He walked over to the table where Rukia was still sitting at, eating her breakfast.

"Ichi-nii, you're awake! I kept your because warm." Yuzu greeted Ichigo in her friendly voice.

"Ohayo, Ichigo." Rukia said as she looked up at him from her plate. He sat down across from her as Yuzu set down his plate in front of him.

"Morning." He mumbled as he took his fork and picked at the food. "Where are Karin and the old man?" He asked absentmindedly looking at the empty seats.

"Karin -chan when out to play already, and daddy went to work." Yuzu explained.

"Ah." Ichigo mumbled. At least he didn't have to deal with his father when the left.

After breakfast, Rukia and Ichigo left the table and were out the door, walking down the street toward Urahara's.

Rukia had asked Urahara a few days back if she could use his basement for some training, and he agreed. When she told him Ichigo asked if he could come with her to train. He noticed a bit of hesitance before she said agreed.

_Why did she hesitate like that, of course I would come with her anyway._

He gave a side glance down at the shinigami that was in a gigai right now. She didn't seem to be acting any different today like she had been after asking Urahara, her back was straight and her head up, in the perfect poses.

_Why did she even ask to train? I never heard of Rukia asking Urahara if she could train in his basement. _

Ichigo looked back to the front when the view of the shop came into view. They walked inside the small store, no sign of a customer.

"Kuchiki-dono! Kurosaki-dono! Welcome!" Tessai's voice boomed as they entered.

"We came to use the basement for training." Rukia said. Tessai nodded, letting them go over to the door that led down under the shop. Rukia opened the trap door and was the first to go down, Ichigo closely after.

Rukia went straight into training, and Ichigo couldn't help but see her determined look as they both sparred against each other.

_Even without ban kai, she's really good…_

Of course he knew that. He continued dodging her attacks- trying to land some of his own. He jumped back as both stood for a moment to catch their breath. Ichigo was panting, but he could see Rukia was more exhausted.

"Rukia, we should stop." Ichigo hollered. Rukia looked up at him, and he noticed her eyes were cloudy. "Rukia…?"

He looked at her with concern, and his eyes widened when she dropped to the ground.

"Rukia!" He yelled alarmed as he stepped to run to her side, but something latched onto his wrist. He whipped his head to see Urahara holding him, looking at him with a serious face.

"U-Urahara! Rukia collapsed-" Ichigo started to explain at the same time escape from his grasp, but then Urahara spoke up.

"Kuchiki-san will be fine, Kurosaki-san." Urahara stated, not loosening his grip. Ichigo kept tugging.

"But she just collapsed! I have to see if she's okay!" Ichigo protested. He looked back to her body that hadn't moved, feeling panic override him.

"Kurosaki-san, Kuchiki-san is just fine, and I like you to not try to contact her right now." He said. Ichigo stopped struggling under his grasp and looked at Urahara confused.

"What do you mean?" He asked. Urahara looked at him for a moment before speaking.

"I would think you of all people would understand about going into one's mind." He commented, looking over at Rukia. Ichigo stared wide-eyed at him, having stopped struggling. Urahara sensed he was calm again, and released his wrist.

"W-what do you mean?" Ichigo muttered.

"It seems Kuchiki-san didn't tell you her intentions of training today." Urahara sighed as he sat down on the ground where he was, Ichigo following suit.

"Real intention? Isn't she just training?" Ichigo said with a look of curiosity in his face.

"Yes- but she wanted to try to materialize her zanpakutou." Urahara explained.

"Materialize…?" Ichigo mumbled, then his eyes widened in realization.

_Materializing… What I did when I was trying to get ban kai, Yoruichi-san said you had to get your zanpakutou to materialize._

_Rukia was…_

"-Training so she could achieve ban kai." Ichigo looked at Urahara, who finished his thought. "But it seems she wounded up going into her inner world, which is the exact opposite of what you're supposed to do." He said in a somewhat light voice.

"When will Rukia come out?" Ichigo asked urgently, staring at Urahara. Urahara hummed, thinking about the question.

"It depends on Kuchiki-san on when she will come back! Maybe a few minutes, or if she really likes it in there, hours or even days!" Urahara smiled at the small joke, but Ichigo didn't smile, not that Urahara thought he would.

"Fine then… I'll wait." Ichigo decided as he turned toward Rukia.

"Just stay away from Kuchiki-san, you don't want her getting the wrong idea if she suddenly opens her eyes and sees your scary face staring at her intently like that!" Urahara smiled as he gained a reaction from the boy.

"Pervert! I wouldn't do that!" He yelled at him with a vein throbbing, but he kept a distance from Rukia. He watched Rukia remain still for a while without distractions.

_What's taking Rukia so long…? There's no reason for her to be staying in her inner world. _

Worry set Ichigo's face as time went by; he remained unmoved, feeling Rukia's reiatsu.

_It's steadily going down… _

Ichigo stared at her as he began to get worried from her falling reiatsu. After what felt like half an hour of it lowering, Ichigo gasped as it suddenly dropped drastically, her reiatsu now very small. Ichigo was up on his feet in a second.

"Rukia!" He yelled. It was just like when her reiatsu became miniscule and he was told she was dead back in Hueco Mundo. He didn't see it, but he could feel it like she was dying. He started running over to her, when he saw a glimpse of dark skin in front of him, then a sharp pain in his stomach and his back had hit one of the boulders meters away.

"You can't help her, Ichigo!" Yoruichi's voice ringed in his ears as he looked up at her.

"But- at this rate-!" He protested as he hastily stood up, but Yoruichi held him back. "Why did it suddenly drop like that?!" Ichigo questioned, looking at her for the answer with a glare. She met with her own glare.

"Whatever is happening, you can't help her!" Yoruichi said. She gave a sigh as she looked at him with an exasperated face. "Kisuke was right when he said you would try something stupid." She and Ichigo waited for what seemed like another half hour when Ichigo's eyes widened.

_Rukia's reiatsu is returning to normal!_

Ichigo stood up as he watched, but Rukia still didn't move. He restrained himself from running over to her even more than during the whole wait.

"It looks like she'll come back soon, but stay here until she does come back." Yoruichi instructed him. She walked to the ladder that led back up into the shop when she stopped.

"Ichigo- Kisuke says to be patient with Rukia. She'll probably be acting strange, so don't worry about it." He looked over at her as she climbed up the ladder and disappeared. After making a confused face, Ichigo turned back towards Rukia.

_It… shouldn't be long now. Hopefully she isn't injured or anything, especially from whatever happened._

Ichigo turned to look at the ladder, feeling pained at seeing the still body for so long. Of course she wasn't dead… but it didn't even look like she was breathing. Ichigo looked back at her as he continued waiting.

And then he felt it.

_Rukia's reiatsu..! _

His eyes watched and saw her body twitch. He immediately straightened and ran towards her.

"Rukia, oi Rukia!" He yelled as new emotions swelled up inside of him.

_Relief, excitement, and… joy. That's it._

"I-Ichigo..?" He gave a small smile as he heard the familiar voice say his name. Rukia had sat up and looked at him. He could see surprise as he ran towards her, and watched her turn her head, surveying the landscape.

"Rukia, are you okay?! You were acting really strange for a while, and you just dropped to the ground!" He couldn't help but let his concern show as he crouched to look at her. She made a weird face at him, but then she looked at him with an annoyed face.

"I'm fine, Ichigo…" She muttered. "It's not like I'm hurt, so why do you need to be concerned, when you shouldn't be concerned if I get injured anyway?" She asked him. He couldn't help but obvious relief that she was fine as he gave a sigh.

"It's almost sunset, isn't it? We should get going." Rukia said as he watched her stand up from where she had been lying for hours.

"Ah, let's get going." Ichigo agreed. He didn't notice how long she had been like that, him waiting. They left the large room and surfaced back up on ground level.

"Good-bye then, Kuchiki-san, Kurosaki-san!" Urahara called cheerfully. Rukia merely gave a small nod and Ichigo waved good bye, glancing one last time at Urahara before turning onto the side walk outside with Rukia.

As they walked back home silently, Ichigo gave another side glance at Rukia. Her face showed a spark that he hadn't seen before when they walked to the shop that morning.

Determination. That's what he saw.

_Rukia... _

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**Hope you enjoyed! Comments are really loved. **


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